A Year In (Brief) Review.

This year was a big one for me. I moved to Asia, the first time I’ve been outside the States, only to find that dating across the language barrier is not that difficult. As it turns out, a lot of things are communicated adequately with almost no words. Teaching has been both the best paying and most difficult job I’ve ever had. Each day, often each hour, is a fresh test of my patience, while financial independence has brought with it the challenge of investing and saving money responsibly. I recently put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, making a few small charitable donations to the Center for Applied Rationality and the Singularity Institute, research organizations I like.

My positions on a number of very important philosophical topics has changed, including free will (I’m much more skeptical of it than I used to be), the Singularity (at the very least it’s worth thinking seriously about), and Transhumanism (I see no reason why technology shouldn’t radically augment us for the better). Not everything has changed; I’m still a moral realist, still an atheist, and still a libertarian.

Finally, I’ve vastly expanded my proficiency with computers and programming, a feat which on most days is almost as stressful as teaching. This recent obsession with programming is a big part of the reason I’ve not written much lately. I have essays planned on a variety of technical topics, but right now it is hard enough just staying motivated and understanding the basics of computing technology, to say nothing of communicating them.

All things considered, not a bad year. Here’s to hoping ’13 is even more momentous.